Saturday, November 6, 2010

Three quarters of the Conference Championships are set after tonight's results and now the Galaxy will look to complete the group on Sunday evening at The Home Depot Center. The club addressed the press for the final time on Friday afternoon with everyone appearing to be on the same page.While the guys are happy to be up 1-0 going into the second leg, they know that they will need to reproduce the fighting spirit that they showed in Seattle last weekend. A lot of energy was put into that game while Sunday's second leg could possibly go to 120 minutes, so there was a strong focus on getting the guys back to 100% fitness ahead of Sunday's game.

Helping that cause was the return of two players that missed the opening leg through injury. Todd Dunivant and Michael Stephens each returned to training at the start of this week giving Bruce Arena a nearly full strength squad with which to choose from on Sunday.

Here is what he had to say after training on Friday.

And a bit more from the Galaxy coach...

And if you're in the mood for some video, here is more from Landon, David and Edson from MLSSoccer.com.And of course don't miss the latest edition of This Week Inside the Galaxy from the previous post

3 comments:

charlesj27
said...

Appreciate the updates on our LAG team in its final training session before tomorrow. Appreciate the audio bytes also. LAG must get through this next match. Focus only on dominating with presence, posession, control, and quality. Let's beat the Sounders - and, gain that momentum towards the rest of the post-season. Our LAG team have come this far - do NOT fall short now. Again, those that are leaders - must lead actively on the pitch tomorrow; communicate and steady out all th erest of the players on the pitch and on the bench; show undridled unity and heart. I hope ALL the players are warmed up, able to link up quickly, and with control to lessen errors and mistakes. Seattle will push us hard - they will over and over again... but, let it strengthen and mold us in a better, well-balanced, and focused manner. AJ, Michael S, Tristan, Leonardo, Eddie, and Chris - all these players must keep practicing ball movement, speed, maintaining posession regardless of pressure. Todd, Gregg, Omar, Sean, David, Landon, ChrisB, Juninho, Dema, and Edson MUST have their responsibilities down without any complications; Quick releases; and, providing considerable effort in defense and in offense.

LA Galaxy can make it all the way; but, it will NOT be easy! Our entire team, from subs to starters - all of our players - must be attentive, strong, focused, and actaully doing the things necessary to be better on field. That includes stretching properly, warming up properly, soccer drills, passing, crossing, shielding, positioning. It's gonna be intense - so be ready; be committed; and, communicate with each other; bring up each other's level.

What an incredible, incredible game last night: FC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto. Great, fantastic soccer to watch. Impressive performance, heart, intensity, and contribution from BOTH teams. Schellas Hyndman must be so proud of his team's playing. I don't think Jason Kries did anything wrong - that team line-up seemed to work; Andy Williams, Kyle Beckerman, Tony Beltran, their two very capapble & athletic central defenders, Nick Rimando - those guys were all very good. If anything, I believe Alvaro Saborio and Robbie Russell were probably the two players that looked/played as if they were not feeling well. But, still, Jason Kries is an impressive attack-minded coach with a great team and support staff. FC Dallas players will have now eight days to rest, to recover, and get prepped for Western Conf Finals. This time around, I think (and, hoping it's our LA Galaxy in the Finals), our team will have to definitely have a thorough, well planned and prepared game plan against them. FC Dallas is a very dangerous team with a fully fit Ferreira, Chavez, Benitez, and McCarty!

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One of Major League Soccer's original clubs, the LA Galaxy play their home games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. A two-time winner of both the MLS Cup (2002 and 2005) and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2001 and 2005), the Galaxy boast a strong and rich history in MLS and around the world. With a roster that features stars like David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and more under the eye of general manager and head coach Bruce Arena, the Galaxy will look to return to the pinnacle of MLS in 2010.